Notes / Commercial Description:
You could say, then, that Smuttynose IPA is a physical salute to the glory of the American hop grower. The citrusy hop flavor coming from a mixture of Simcoe and Santiams is pleasantly balanced by a smooth bitterness from the Amarillo hops. The beer itself is light bodied and crisp with a golden color that will throw a slight haze, as we bottle it unfiltered. At 75 IBU's, this is definitely not a training-wheels IPA, but is meant for hop lovers looking to satisfy their craving in a way that's not easy to find. We think they’ll be quite pleased.

A really good IPA, close to Celebration Ale and as good as Hop 'Otten. Pours a cloudy light orange/dull gold color with a medium size white head. The head fades quickly to 1/4 inch but then hangs in there throughout. Good heavy lacing. Fairly good hops aroma. Taste is great. Bitter hops with some grapefruit. The flavors are nicely balanced and the grapefruit is not overpowering. The taste/mouthfeel are rich and smooth (for a hop head). THe ABV is a bit high for a session beer, but if I was going to be sitting on my butt with friends for a long while I would consider slowly putting down 3 of these beauties. An outstanding beer, looks like it is available all year long. A greeat find for a guy down to his last 3 2006 Celebration Ales.

Pours lighter than I expected, more of a dark gold than an amber/orange. Good head and lace. Aroma is all hops, specifically very grapefruity. The flavor is very much along the same lines. I wouldn't be too surprised if someone told me grapefruit juice actually went into this beer. Bitter, citrus hop notes dominate throughout. Mouthfeel is good, drinkability is high. Worth coming back to again and again.

Taste: Blunt hops are the alpha and the omega here, with a quick flash of caramel malts in the middle. Finish is dry and somewhat flat and dull, a poor finale for an otherwise exciting beer. Overall, it's kind of a one-note samba, but still good.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and sticky and a little too syrupy.

Drinkability: Pretty potent and invigoratingly hoppy, a good beer to have towards the end of a session.

Pale, sunny, orange color with light cloudiness and few chunks of sediment. The head is creamy and light with amazing retention. Loads of streaming carbonation visible. The aroma is tangy with strong piney and floral hop presence. Very grapefruit like in character, and also very "fresh" to the nose. The taste is also dominated by grapefruit hops, the malt flavor is a bit subdued but has a nice toastiness that holds up well to balance it out. Bitterness is solid and makes it very enjoyable. Mouthfeel is fairly light in thickness and the carbonation is not overpowering. This brew has excellent drinkability due to its nice balance and crisp hoppiness. Nothing over-complex, but made just right... Thanks to ghostwalker for this brew...

Smuttynose takes a beer that feel has been far overdone and does it right. Pours dark with a bite of hops that does not quit from beginning to end. One of the few examples of this beer that I would rate superior. Chewy is the only way I can explain it. Not overly hopped, but with a hop character that stays with you well after your last sip. Reminds me of the Pale Ale that the High Point BC makes. The real McCoy.

Pours a cloudy orange tone with a creamy 1" head that retains nicely. Aroma is pine, fresh cut grass, and citrusy hop notes....no malt detected. Taste follows smell almost to a "T", pungent hop kick as soon as it crosses your lips, there is an ever-so-slight malt character on the edges, and a mild alcohol bite at the finish. Lingering hop aftertaste might be a bit strong, but not enough to take anything away from this beer. Mouthfeel is quite smooth considering the hop punch this beer provides, and drinkability is high if you are into the hops.

This is probably the most aggresively hopped beer I have had, hands down. Awesome beer, but not for the timid! Bottoms up!!!

This is a 12 oz bottle of Finest Kind IPA served in a Troegenator seidel. The beer is cool.

Appearance: The beer is a light orange color that seems a little out of place (closer to a DIPA). There is a nice ring of lace all around the glass.

Smell: There are not a lot of aromas emerging from the glass. What does emerge paints the picture of a citrusy ale that has a strong hop profile.

Taste: The strong hops in the taste make up for the lack of smell. The hops are citrusy and bitter enough to take control of the beer. There is a low-key malt presence that provides just enough balance.

Mouthfeel: The bitterness is refreshing on the palate.

Drinkability: The beer is limited a bit by the hops, they could easily overpower the tastebuds. Despite that, the ale is solid.

Pours a slightly cloudy orange color with a fingers worth of off-white head. Leaves thin, streaky lacing. Aroma is of spicy citrus with some pine fighting for attention. The taste is of grapefruit and lemon peel. Medium body with active carbonation. A nice IPA but not my favorite IPA or Smuttynose brew.

nicely bitter but balanced. malty sweet presence comes on surprisingly strong and overwhelms some of the hop complexity. hops come off with some citrus rinds but overall is rather one-noted. still, a very drinkable, flavorful ipa.

A and I got a sixpack of this at our neighborhood beermart since we
were looking for an IPA but wanted something other than our usual Harpoon or
mojo. Appearance is a bit more cloudy than I would expect, but I just read the bottle and indeed it is unfiltered. A pleasant citrus hoppy aroma does not prepare you for the super dry hoppy flavor. I would have expected the nose to be bigger to go along with the flavor. Being a bit of a hophead I enjoy the dry mouthfeel.

Since this is brewed just up the road in Portsmouth I am sure this will become
a not uncommon feature in my fridge.

Got some choice cuts with this one on 5/29/2006. 16-oz. cask pour at Redbones, part of their new Monday night cask offerings. Dry hopped with Cascade and Amarillo.

Huge froth, more than an inch, which wasn't a surprise considering its serving style. Very little stick. Initially cloudy gold hue that clears out to be just a smudge on the glass; some quiet carbonation floating around. Citrus and pine crank on the nose in a sick-good way with some lemon zest traces. Lots of lemon rind and a biting pine essence on the mouth, but not disturbing. As it warms more, a great deal of the hop character reveals itself.

Good stuff. Have always liked the bottle version, but this was like Jimmy Walker, dy-no-mite.

Appearance - Slightly hazey orangish golden in color. Decent sized head leaving lots of lacing. A careful pour is needed to not muddy up the beer with sediment.

Smell - Strong piney/spicy hop aroma.

Taste - Mostly hoppy in taste, I love how the smell carries directly into the taste. There's malt in here but they do not take away from the great hoppiness. As bitter as I like an IPA to be, which is good, many times I fear the aroma will not be matched by the bitterness, it is.

Mouthfeel - Medium in body with enough carb crisp.

Drinkability - Not quite what I would call a session beer, but no need to stop at one or two.

Overall one of my favorites from the Smuttynose line up. The price is great and the quality is amazing.

12 oz. dated best by 8/06. Poured into a Stone IPA glass getting 1 finger of off white, rocky head. Pale orange and cloudy with a chunky body (large flakes of yeast were suspended throughout).

Smell was of bright citrus with a mild sour note.

Taste was a big juicy citrus brew. Like chewing grapefruit rind and pine needles. Nice bittering hops out front but a nice interplay of sweetness, bitterness and citrus. Could be Dreadnaught's talented little brother.

Pours orange-peach in color with a cream head that slowly recedes to a faint ring, slight haziness. Aroma is predominantly grassy hops, but also a fainter sweet citrus hop aroma. Taste shows some lemony flavors up front with a grassy bitterness in the finish. Bitterness is fairly big and is quite drying. Very enjoyable. Although I am not as impressed with the smell on this one as I usually am with my favorite ipas, the taste and drying bitterness make it highly enjoyable and very drinkable for me.

Pours an appealing medium amber color with about an inch of head . I smelled the hops immediatly . grapefruity and just a hint of malt . The hop flavor is out front , but it does"nt beat you up with every sip . very low key bitterness . I liked this beer . Its a tasty , drinkable I P A balanced more to the hoppy side of the tracks .

Poured orangish-golden with a well-retained head.
The smell was citrusy - grapefruit, orange, lemon - robust and inviting smell.
This is a great example of the style. It tastes of grapefruit, and yet well-balanced with a touch of rounding sweetness.
If you are an IPA lover, I highly recommend this brew. It's smooth and citrusy.
A real winner from Smuttynose! Very drinkable!

12 oz bottle courtesy of sulldaddy. Best before marked Sep/06. What an awesome label! The two old-timers look like they are kicking back and having a good ole time in front of their RV. I love interesting beer labels, and this bottle with look great on the shelf.

Poured into an Imperial pint glass The color is a hazy golden orange. White foamy head about a finger thick. Good head retention, it maintained at least a 1/4 inch head for the duration of the beer. Left a nice lace that clung to the glass.

Smell is light and hoppy. Taste is very hoppy. Gives a nice puckery feeling to the edges of the tongue. As it warms in the mouth, a slight peachy sweetness is detected on the tip of the tongue. It finishes with a grapefruit snap towards the back of the mouth. Quite complex on the palate, it's doing a lot of things at the same time. very enjoyable.

Mouthfeel is pretty standard for an IPA. Very crisp and refreshing. It leaves a solid hop after taste. I really want to get more of these. This is a very good beer.

This beer came right off the tap from the Moan and Dove in Massachusetts. I have heard good things about it so I had high expectations. I have to say I was very disappointed by this brew. It was a golden/orange color with a slight white head. It had a very earthy/bitter aroma and an overly hoppy/bitter taste. No malt character, It was like grass in a blender if that makes sense. The aftertaste was much the same, and left more to be desired. Its light body and carbonation allow it to go down very easy but this taste was too off for my palate, I would stay away from this one.

A- The slight hazy clouds the golden orange body with a yellowish-white head and some yeast chucks swirling in the beer. There was a nice slow carbonation of tiny bubbles.

S- The smell of fresh green spicy hops had a faint pineapple note with a big grassy finish.

T- This beer has a faint caramel malt note that was overtaken by a big juicy hop flavor with notes of pineapple weed and a bold bitterness at the finish. There was a very faint alcohol taste the gave the bitterness a nice boost.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a chewy texture.

D- This beer has a nice big bitterness to the hops which balanced the flavor of the hops nicely. Many IPAs have just the flavor and aroma of hops and it is nice to see the bitterness in there also.

T: In-your-face citrusy-grapefruit flavour. The bitterness is fairly mild, but there's a ton of hop flavour here. Very crisp, clean finish. The alcohol content is surprising... it doesn't come through in the flavour at all. There's a malty backbone, but it's subtle.

First off, great label. Bottle has some yeast residue at the bottom that I plan to pour right into the glass with the beer. Beer pours a gorgeous golden color. Clear but not pristine, there's a subtle haze in there. Little bubbles stuck all over the inside of the glass. Nice snow white head...pillowy, tight bubbles. As the head falls it leaves a devastating wake of brussels lace behind. So far so good. Halfway thru this beer and the head is still nice and frothy.

Good, solid aroma. Hoppy with a bit of citrus and pine.

Mouthfeel is smooth especially once the carbonation settles down.

IPA's have come a long way now adays. Gone are the traditional cascade dominated beers of yesteryear. This is an easy drinking beer. First impression is grapefruit. Second impression is grapefruit as well. Aftertaste is pure grapfruit with a wash of bitterness from a huge pile of bittering hops. Slight alcohol waffs about halfway thru the swallow.

This is a straight forward, well crafted beer...something that any brewer would be proud of. Lacks a little bit of depth that I would prefer. I could certainly drink another one of these right now. The still going grapefruit aftertaste doesn't let you forget this beer easilly.

Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a Smutty Tulip glass. The classic labels are on the bottle a little crooked, which I have learned from a tour of the brewery, is a result of a roughly 100 year old labeling machine doing the labeling. Pretty cool and gives the bottle some character (as if it needed more than the great picture on the front to give it that!).

An aggressive pour yields a beautiful off white head and a hazy, honey colored body. The head lasts for awhile and has some nice lacing clinging to the glass as it dissipates. The only thing keeping me from giving an excellent on the appearance is the fact that I like to see a little more amber color in an IPA, but maybe that is just a personal preference.

The aroma is probably my favorite part of this beer. I could sit and sniff it all day long! Fresh, floral hop aroma and a bit of citrus in there as well. I can't wait to drink this....

The taste is exactly what you would expect from the nose: Hops, hops, hops! Some might call it unbalanced, but this is an IPA for crying out loud! I think there is a sufficient malt backbone to make this beer work, but the hops are definitely playing the lead role. Delicious.

The mouthfeel is excellent and the drinkability is outstanding! On a hot summer's day, I could literally drink this beer over and over and over again...

Aroma is fresh and green, with pleasant aromas of both citrusy and flowery hops.

Flavor is a bit of a let down. No real malt body, and reltively faint hop flavor. Hoppy finish is incredibly bitter and astringent. Mouthfeel is smooth, but a little thin... I'd like to see at least a little bit of a malty body. Drinkability is hindered a bit by the astringent bitterness.

I feel that this ber has potential, but lacks a bit of finess. There is simply too much bittering hops, and not enough flavor hops. In addition, I feel that the hops themselves do not blend well. The different varietals seem to clash in this beer. It's quite drinkable and refreshing, just not one of the better IPA's that I've had.